'Putting Up: A Seasonal Guide to Canning in the Southern Tradition' by Stephen Palmer Dowdney Gibbs Smith -- 2008 Buy it on Amazon
You know how your friend's cousin's boyfriend's grandma, like, totally killed a neighbor by innocently giving her a batch of her home-canned beans that oops, turned out to have a touch of the botulism? That's never going to happen to you. Not on Steve Dowdney's watch.
This can-vangelist has culled years of his own know-how, as well as the collective wisdom of generations of Southern cooks, into a rigorous, nigh-on religious canning primer. The recipes are solid -- almost a shade clinical -- but the opening chapter, packed with equipment tips, altitude and pH charts, preparation terms and step-by-step best practices, could be a stand-alone manual, not to mention the only one you'd ever need to buy.
See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.
August may mark the end of peak cucumber season, but that's no reason to be sad -- it's also the perfect time to stock, slice and pickle the green veggies, whether they're 2-inches or 2-feet long.
These pickles, made and taken by Flickr user melsands, were jarred with dill, coriander, allspice, garlic and fennel seeds. While they were probably intended to go on a sandwich, we'd be tempted to pluck each perfectly pickled cucumber chip straight from the jar until all that's left is just enough juice left to pickle another batch.
I thought I knew my pickles -- steer clear of the sweet (I just can't take the flavor), and revel in the dill, whether that be Polish-style, deli-style, or Vlasic-style. But then I realized how incredibly pickle naive I was.
At a local farmers' market, I perused all the tables, bought my groceries, and then hit the Toorshi Foods pickle table last. I zeroed in on the garlic pickles because, well, nothing's as good as garlic. The flavor exploded in my mouth -- the rich tartness of the pickle balanced by the strong and purr-worthy flavor of garlic. This wasn't some wimpy, barely-there hint of garlic like I expected from past experience.
It was yet another reminder of how wonderful food can taste when you do it yourself, or buy it from someone who does it for you, naturally. Should you eat pickles like a ravenous fiend, it might get pricey. Just as a thin-but-tasty fast food burger can't live up to the real, thick, and juicy thing, a mass-produced pickle can't live up to the flavor of an old Armenian family recipe with no chemical preservatives or additives.
If you're going to be in NYC this Sunday, plan your weekend accordingly. Head down to the Lower East Side to check out Pickle Day. I went to this pickle festival last year and thoroughly enjoyed tasting Guss' famous crunchy juicy bright green pickles and Rick's sweet and mildly spicy pickle spears in a cumin and lime brine. If you enjoy pickled vegetables, it's well worth your Sunday.
Some festivities to expect this year include: cooking and home canning demonstrations, music, neighborhood walks, and activities for children. There will also be an interactive showcase with pickle recipes. And, of course, what would a trip to the Lower East Side be without a showing of the movie Crossing Delancey. The movie starts at 3 PM.
Pickle Day is hosted by the Lower East Side Business Improvement District and the NY Food Museum. It's going to take place on Orchard Street between Broome and Grand and in the parking lot on the corner of Ludlow and Broome. To find out more information, call The NY Food Museum at (212) 966-0191.
I am all about pickles. One of my favorite eating sensations is when you chomp into a kosher dill and the sweet-salty brine makes your cheeks cave in. Yeah, that's good stuff.
Y'know what else I like? Kool-Aid. Because even hyperexaggerated interpretations of fruit deserve their own flavor palette. That, and I have no shame.
There was a point in my life when these two snack joys maintained independent existences. It was a simpler time. But then someone pointed me to Alton Brown's recipe for Koolickles and my world was upended. Apparently, these are standard fare in the Mississippi Delta, and the trend picked up steam when the New York Times ran a piece on them last year. So now I must ask: Who here has tried these? What are they like? Are they the solution to all of my Kool-Aid-pickle-pairing problems? Or are they hell in the form of an cylinder? I demand answers.
I just realized, I hardly ever eat pickles. I'll sometimes have them with sandwiches when I'm in a sandwich mood, but beyond that I don't give them much thought. I do like all kinds though: dill, bread & butter crisps, gherkins of all kinds.
Today is National Pickle Day. RecipeSource has a bunch of pickle recipes, from 14 Day Sweet Pickles to Zucchini Pickles (333 recipes in total!). Here's one for Nukazuke, which are Japanese pickles (made with rice bran and cabbage) You can even buy a T-shirt to tell everyone how much you appreciate the pickle.
My friend Wendy is an terrific cook. She is the one who made the gorgeous and tasty cheesy pita chips I mentioned awhile back. Despite the fact that she isn't actually a food blogger, she stopped by my place last Friday for the potluck and brought with her a couple very excellent dishes. One was a Vietnamese tofu and rice dish. I got to keep the leftovers and ate them the following morning for breakfast. The thing she brought was a batch of quick homemade pickles. These pickles were delicious. They held onto a fresh crispness while still absorbing all that puckery vinegar goodness.
At the end of the night there were but three lonely spears floating in a dish full of pickling liquid. With Wendy's permission, I poured those leftover spears and all the pickling juice into a jar. The next day I sliced up some of my own cucumbers and popped them into the jar, thus extending the life of her pickles for another week or so. Luckily today she sent me the recipe for the pickling liquid, so when this batch runs out, I'll be able to make my own. I recommend you do the same, as they bring such brightness, both in taste and in color, to fall and winter meals.
Despite the fact that I grew up in a house in which my mom regularly canned jam, I find that most methods of canning and food storage to be mysterious and slightly intimidating. I have a fear that anything I can will end up infused with botulism and will kill my loved ones and myself. So I don't can (fears don't have to be reasonable). However, I am intrigued by the process and am in awe of people who tackle the task (especially when it includes the scary water bath portion).
It seems like these days it is becoming increasingly popular to can your own food, as it's a good way to keep some of the summer bounty available for winter, especially if you are trying to eat a local diet. The Daily Green has put up a terrific and helpful (and fear calming) post, written by Alisa Smith of the 100 Mile Diet, chock full of tips and information about canning technique. It's enough to make me put aside my fears, buy a case of jars, obtain a flat of tomatoes and start canning.
I'm an absolute sucker for novel junk-food packaging. Doritos X-13D stopped me dead in my tracks when I was at 7-Eleven the other night. The white panel read "This is the X-13D Flavor Experiment. Objective: Taste and name Doritos flavor X-13D." I felt as if it were my civic duty to name this flavor, so I purchased two bags. I also wanted to win a years supply of the orange-colored treats. Mmm...powdered cheese.
I munched on a few on the walk home. They tasted vaguely of something familiar. The front of the package has a line that reads, "All American Classic." After I thought about it for a while I figured out what X-13D tastes like, and it is indeed a classic. It also helps explain why beef tallow and pickle juice are among the ingredients.
I went to X-13D with the intention of entering my name for this experimental snack. The jet-black pages, creepy futuristic music and Flash animations including a 3-D rotating animation of the package that displays the name you've chosen led me to believe that is a Web site created by stoners for stoners. I imagine eight-year-olds kids typing "Monkey Poo" and such, laughing their heads off. Don't worry, that's not the name I chose for X-13D. Actually I never officially entered since I couldn't get the dang site to cooperate with my dinosaur of a PC. The contest ends July 14. Can't get X-13D where you live? Worry not, some genius is selling them on eBay for $9.99 a bag. I'm not sure if it's the large size or not. Either way, that's a ridiculous markup.
I was just talking about pickles and declining sales earlier. Now I read an article about two guys who quit their jobs as investment adviser and financial analyst to take over the family pickle business. And it's not just any old pickles, but it's pigs feet, eggs, and sausage that are being pickled. Now I know that pickled pigs feet and sausages are a regional Southern thing. I lived in Georgia for a few years, as well as two in Florida, and saw them in stores, stacked high in enormous jars holding a gallon of these things. I just never got up the courage to try them back then. I hadn't yet caught on to the wonder of braised Chinese pigs feet as the delicacy that it is. If I had some of those pickled trotters in front of me I would definitely try them. The idea of pickled sausages is even starting to sound interesting. Or maybe it's just that I'm hungry and thinking about any type of food right now feels like a good thing. Well, except pickled eggs.
These guys think that they can boost sales with their sausages and hold steady on their feet. Their first idea is to pack the sausage and feet in single serve packs. This way customers can try them out and not have to buy those huge jars full of feet to lug home. They say that while the sale of the feet tends to remain stable, those of the pickled eggs and sausage are a high growth area. Especially if more hurricanes come along.. They had a huge boost in sales in the last hurricane season since their products are so well pickled they last forever without spoiling. Not only that but when they hired a lab to test their products they found out that when Listeria bacteria was injected into the pickled sausage it not only didn't reproduce, it actually died. I feel that remains to be seen whether their sales are going to increase, especially since since it seems the brothers haven't yet gotten around to eating all of their own products and have been shying away from tasting their trotters for years.
If you get the gumption to try some of their products , or already have, let me know what they're like.
The sales of pickles and pickled veggies slowed down and held steady the past five years. In the ever increasing food industry this is equivalent to declining sales, which are themselves expected over the next few years. I don't understand this myself since I love pickled vegetables of all kinds. I must have over a dozen different ones in my fridge, and my own homemade ones in the pantry. Some of my favorites are premium and gourmet pickles, southern types with chile's or bourbon in them, or funky Asian ones. I also like weird ones that I can use to garnish my martinis and gin like my trusty Talk O' Texas Crisp Hot Okra Pickles. Mmmmm.
Besides the taste, I like the fact that pickles are good for you. I know most people don't equate pickled vegetables with healthy living but they are. All fermented products have pro-biotic health benefits. I hope the big companies do some marketing about the health benefits and pickles become more popular. My reasons are selfish ,but I really want to see more high quality and tasty pickled veggies on the store shelves for me to try.
I'm an absolute sucker for novel junk-food packaging. Doritos X-13D stopped me dead in my tracks when I was at 7-Eleven the other night. The white panel read "This is the X-13D Flavor Experiment. Objective: Taste and name Doritos flavor X-13D." I felt as if it were my civic duty to name this flavor, so I purchased two bags. I also wanted to win a years supply of the orange-colored treats. Mmm...powdered cheese.
I was just talking about pickles and declining sales earlier. Now I read an article about two guys who quit their jobs as investment adviser and financial analyst to take over the family pickle business. And it's not just any old pickles, but it's pigs feet, eggs, and sausage that are being pickled. Now I know that pickled pigs feet and sausages are a regional Southern thing. I lived in Georgia for a few years, as well as two in Florida, and saw them in stores, stacked high in enormous jars holding a gallon of these things. I just never got up the courage to try them back then. I hadn't yet caught on to the wonder of braised Chinese pigs feet as the delicacy that it is. If I had some of those pickled trotters in front of me I would definitely try them. The idea of pickled sausages is even starting to sound interesting. Or maybe it's just that I'm hungry and thinking about any type of food right now feels like a good thing. Well, except pickled eggs.
The sales of pickles and pickled veggies slowed down and held steady the past five years. In the ever increasing food industry this is equivalent to declining sales, which are themselves expected over the next few years. I don't understand this myself since I love pickled vegetables of all kinds. I must have over a dozen different ones in my fridge, and my own homemade ones in the pantry. Some of my favorites are premium and gourmet pickles, southern types with chile's or bourbon in them, or funky Asian ones. I also like weird ones that I can use to garnish my martinis and gin like my trusty Talk O' Texas Crisp Hot Okra Pickles. Mmmmm. 
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